Tuesday 20 April 2010

Stress!

I have come to realise that by now I should have learned the art of time management! I obviously have not got a clue as to help myself with university and essay writing.

Why would I think it would be a good idea to leave it to the last minute to get all my work done on time....I am a joke.

I am in my first year of university and the main lessons that I have learned so far are;

1) Do the reading on the lists that the tutors give you.

2) Start writing essays at least 6 weeks in advance.

3) GET ORGANISED

Next year is going to be different - otherwise I will be screwed!

Wish me luck, I am not going to see daylight for the next week.

Saturday 17 April 2010

Children's Fashion....

It has been a bug bear of mine for sometime now about children's fashion that we are seeing on the market nowadays. My thoughts are triggered though by the reports in the rag about Primark selling padded bikinis for 7 year old children!

Twenty years ago when I used to decide what clothes I wanted to wear, I went for shorts and t-shirts everytime. The last thing my parents tried to do was to dress me like a little adult. I find it a little disturbing that parents want to do just this.

Why do I refuse to dress my children in such attire? Simply because they are children. Children are not for display. They need to be able to go out and get filthy in mud and get covered in paint and not worry about scuffing their platform shoes!

Children need to concentrate on being little people that are trying to learn about their world, they should not be dragged up to look like adults. They may want to be treated like an adult - curbing the actual development of the child.

That would be a very disappointing childhood regret.

Tuesday 13 April 2010

Scandalous!

The press today...

What caught my eye today in the rag was the story about Jack Tweed. Tweed is accused of rape and is standing trial this week. The alleged incident took place at his home after a night out, just 6 months after the death of his wife, Big Brother star Jade Goody.

After reading articles in the papers, and having sat in on court rape trials I can see why rapes are not taken as seriously as they should be.

The victim often gets cross examined and flaws found in the evidence. The prosecution then tries to discredit the victim by whatever means. The obvious problem in this scenario is that Tweed is in the public eye due to Jade. The prosecution will potentially try to discredit the victim's story with accusations of trying to expose a celeb for money. The prosecution will also try to blame the victim, maybe for being too drunk and on drugs. Even if a man or woman had a few drinks or was on drugs....does this give anyone the right to rape. No!

This aside the prosecution has an argument. It is literally his word against hers. How is a man to know that the next day a woman is not going to go out and cry rape. Any right thinking citizen will know when someone is too drunk to consent to sex. Everything that has happened to Tweed in the past should have alerted him to know that any action such as rape would not be dismissed. Tweed has a reputation for being a bit thick, but that stupid?

Lessons to be learned here (even though its completely idealistic) men and women alike, don't put yourselves in vulnerable situations! We have heard it a thousand times before but people still do it.

What was the girl doing going back to a strange mans home?
What was Tweed doing taking girls that he did not know back to his home?

I have children myself and will be parenting them to know that you do not put yourself in these situations, just as my parents told me. It has just got to be common sense surely?

Rape or no rape, what a fantastically stupid risk to take!